July 2, USTA released an economic calculation which showed that the large long distance companies…

By News Dept.

July 2, USTA released an economic calculation which showed that the large long distance companies— AT&T and MCI WorldCom have been given billions of dollars in access charge reductions by the nation’s local phone companies since 1991. The USTA calculation found that AT&T, MCI WorldCom, and other long distance companies have received nearly $23 billion in cumulative access savings to the cost of providing long distance service to both business and residential customers over the last eight and a half years.

In a press release issued that day, Roy Neel accused the large long distance companies of using access charge reductions to finance acquisitions of other companies and said that consumers should demand lower prices as a result of these access charge reductions. He called on AT&T to remove its $3 monthly usage minimum charge and encouraged the company to “stop forcing lower income customers— the poor and elderly— to pay this non-use tax.”

Earlier this month, local phone companies filed their annual price cap tariffs with the FCC, reducing access charges by an additional $823 million. These reductions went into effect on July 1, 1999.

Kalona Cooperative Telephone Company is a current member of the USTA Organization and supports all reductions to long distance charges and services. Recently, KCTC offered two long distance plans as a way to bypass some of the charges and non-usage fees associated with large long distance carriers.